Interview Jaxine Daniels

by

Stacey Lee

1) Tell a little about yourself.

Well, I live on the Emerald Coast of Florida with my hubby. My daughter and her family are here as well.  My boys have not made the move from Colorado yet.  Before I moved here last year, I spent seven years as an EMT on a high mountain ambulance corp and on Search and Rescue. Now, I'm a Starbuck's barista and I'm working on my hypnotherapy certificate. But, above all, I'm a romance writer.

2) On Writing: How did you get started in writing?

I've carried fiction around in my brain since I was a little girl. My imaginary friends were nicer than my real friends. As a teenager, I wrote angsty poetry. As a young adult, I wrote essays. But nothing fit until I finally just sat down and started writing my first novel, which was some seven years ago. This book became my first published novel, Black Ice. Now, I couldn't stop if I wanted to.

3) What made you decide to become a writer?

I think writing decided me, not vice versa. I've always written, even when it wasn't fiction. It's a connection with the written word, with words. I love words.

4) What inspires you in your writing?

That seems like a rather mystical question that should require a profound answer. It's really simple, though. I love to create characters in my head, then live life from their point of view. When you boil it all down, it's really one big game of “what if.”

5) Do you have a process that you go through in developing a book, or while writing?

I usually start with characters. No, with a plot question. Well, maybe it's with a, here I go again, a "what if." Character and plot are so linked that it's hard to separate them in my mind. Once I have characters, I always cast the parts so that I know what that characters look like. I usually do an astrological reading for them as well as an enneagram assessment. Sometimes I use tarot cards. Then, I pick what I like and throw the rest away. I start with a beginning and an end (it is romance, so the end is pretty much mandatory). The in between is just a game of cause and effect. Often the characters do things that surprise even me.

6) What other writers do you admire?

So many books, so little time. I love Suzanne Brockmann. Diana Gabaldon. Lisa Jackson. Lisa Gardner. Harlan Cobin. Greg Iles. Michael Connelly.

7) On Promise To Believe: What is the premise of the book?

Does love endure the grave? Are soul mates, cheated once, given a second chance to love? Or is that madness, the stuff of fairy tales? When Griffin LeRoy is given a dream job, to take three old Creole town houses and turn them into a bed and breakfast, her life and sanity are nearly destroyed as she searches for answers and waits for a man who may not even exist. From the daytime world of interior design, to the night-time world of sensual dreams and erotic fantasy, Promise to Believe is a simple love story.

8) How did the idea for this novel come about?

Actually a song was the inspiration for this book. I Believe by Diamond Rio.

9) Is this your first novel?

No. It is my seventh. It's my first paranormal, though. I also have an ongoing military romance series here at Wings.

10) Do you have any works in progress at the moment?

Yes, I am in the final stages of book four in the para-rescue series. I have one single title outlined and I have another one first drafted (is that a word?). Also, I have a Scottish contemporary/historical/time-travelish/paranormal/all of the above/none of the above/hard to categorize story perking. :) As I said, I couldn't stop if I tried.